


The Last Rose Quartz

by PepperWithAPencil



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Homeworld is Horrible, More gems as the story goes on - Freeform, Possibly OOC Blue Pearl, then again we don't know her well enough to be able to judge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-26 11:55:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14401638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PepperWithAPencil/pseuds/PepperWithAPencil
Summary: Blue Diamond decides to destroy all the bubbled Rose Quartzes, and her Pearl makes the mistake of objecting. Set before Can't Go Back/A Single Pale Rose.





	1. Good Gem Gone Rogue

The starkly pink room was an eyesore to Blue Pearl, but her Diamond would never see it that way. To her, it was the sacred room of her beloved fellow Diamond, _Pink,_ and her Rose Quartz gems, trapped in bubbles.

If Pearl had been allowed to feel her own emotions in her Diamond's presence, she would have had quite a bit to think about Pink Diamond. Alas, that was not the case. She pressed her lips tightly against one another, thankful that her hairstyle cloaked her eyes. The Bismuth that had entered the room had a bizarre enthusiasm in her voice, Pearl noted, and she was certain that if she were to take a look, the Bismuth would be trying not to smile.

“We have created a replica of Rose Quartz's sword as you requested, my Diamond,” the Bismuth said, kneeling down before Blue Diamond with the sword held on her palms.

Her diamond tensed. “Rose Quartz's sword,” she repeated, her eyes falling upon the sword in question.

“A recreation based on descriptions from eyewitnesses at the shattering,” the Bismuth explained, her voice breaking a little at the word 'shattering'. Blue Pearl braced herself for the inevitable.

Her Diamond took a deep breath.

The tears hit her like a tidal wave. The Diamond wept, sorrowfully exclaiming “ _Pink_ ,” as if she thought the diamond could hear her if she was loud enough. Blue Pearl felt the tears running down her cheeks, and pain in her gem, as if it was about to crack. The feeling was all too familiar to her- she had put up with her Diamond's emotional outbursts for millenniums now. Pearl bit herself hard in her lower lip, hoping the pain might be enough for her to poof. She almost smiled through the pain as she imagined staying within her gem and procrastinating reformation as long as possible. Chances were Homeworld would rather choose to replace her with another Pearl during that time- but it would be worth it, Pearl thought. Oh so worth it, to never have to deal with her miserable Diamond's grief over the... Her Diamond's sorrow hit her again. The _poor_ , _small_ , _harmless_ Pink Diamond. Pearl tensed.

“Leave us,” Blue Diamond whispered.

“Yes, my Diamond!” The Bismuth said, doing a hasty bow before running out of the room. Pearl wanted to sigh. How she wished to run after the Bismuth and avoid the incremental emotions to come.

Her Diamond took the sword. It was miniscule in comparison to her gigantic fingers. She studied it carefully, rubbing her fingertips at the sword's handle. Pearl stared. The handle Rose Quartz must have had in a tight grip as she approached Pink Diamond.

For a brief moment, Pearl had an opening- a short gap where her Diamond was not projecting her sorrow onto her. She turned away to avoid being seen, and felt the grin spread across her face. That brat had it coming. Rose Quartz had done Homeworld a favor by taking out their biggest liability- an irresponsible Diamond who would have wasted all their sources to fight for her “right” to own some irrelevant planet. The Diamond may have been small, but her ego was the size of all diamonds fused, and if she had not been stopped-

Blue Diamond dropped the sword on the floor and wailed. Pearl flinched. The _innocent_ Pink Diamond, so full of _potential_ , taken from us too soon. How cruel of Rose Quartz, to take such a beautiful gem's existence, and _destroy_ it... _Shatter_ it... The tears were like waterfalls, running faster than Pearl could comprehend. She felt as if her form was threatening to break again. An intervention was desperately needed, but what could be said? She knew from experience that her Diamond was capable of misinterpreting any perfectly innocuous question as an attack on the sweet young Pink Diamond...

Her Diamond lowered her head. “I suppose Yellow Diamond is right,” she whispered, grabbing one of the bubbled Rose Quartzes. “The entire cut of gem deserves to be destroyed.”

Pearl looked at the bubbles. She was supposed to keep count of how many Rose Quartzes there were in the bubbles, but she had never bothered to. Instead, each time her Diamond asked to know how many Rose Quartz gems they had captive, she would make up a random number. Her Diamond would ask the question every second time they were visiting Pink's room, and had neglected to do so last time, so Pearl was expecting the question any second now...

There was a loud pop.

Pearl froze in fear. The Rose Quartz bubble had broken, and Blue Diamond was clenching her fist around the gem that had been inside of it.

“I'll shatter every last one of them,” she whispered, tightening her grip around the gem. Pearl felt herself starting to shake. Her Diamond was angry, and as always, it was rubbing off on her, but this time it was different. No tears: only pure, unbridled rage.

“ _No_ , My Diamond!” Pearl yelled without thinking.

Her Diamond paused. She opened the palm of her hand, where the Rose Quartz gem had a slight crack. Her Diamond turned around slowly, her face twisted into a frown.

“What did you say?” she asked solemnly.

Pearl could sense her fury. How dare a _Pearl_ speak against a _Diamond_? And not in just any matter either, but something that touched _Pink Diamond_ , the precious gem that had been shattered by a _Rose Quartz_ \- The Diamond took another Rose Quartz gem bubble, and looked at Pearl almost mockingly as she made the bubble pop-

Without thinking, Pearl picked the sword up from the floor, and swung it, cutting through the form of her Diamond.

Her Diamond stared blankly.

There was a pause- as if time itself had stopped. Blue Diamond was in shock- and Pearl could _feel_ it. She tensed. They were both confused. _Why?_ Her Diamond's eyes seemed to ask. The ice cold fury was gone, replaced by pure confusion. And Pearl couldn't answer her question. Indeed, _why?_ Her Diamond looked up towards the ceiling, and Pearl knew she had accepted her fate.

_Pink. Will we meet again?_

Her form dissipated, and her gem began to fall towards the floor. Pearl swung the sword, shattering the gem as it was half-way through the air.

She gasped, feeling as if she had cut herself in the gem.

And time slowed down.

The room was dead silent.

Her Diamond's shards rained down on her. Pearl's eyes were wide open, watching as the blue shards fell. She recalled how the eyewitnesses had spoken about the shattering of Pink Diamond. _It all happened so fast_ , they had said, yet nothing about this seemed fast to her. The shards were falling so slowly. Pearl could see Blue in every single one of them- her frown, her tears, her sorrowful smile, her rare laughter...

And her forceful presence.

_What have you done, Pearl?_

The cracked Rose Quartz gem begun to form.

Pearl almost jumped in surprise at the sight. Rose Quartz gems were renowned for their beauty prior to Pink Diamond's shattering. But _this one_... The crack had affected it, Pearl could tell. Her hair was large and curly, as a Rose Quartz gem's hair generally was, but her body was not properly formed. One of her arms was greater than the other, and the regular arm's elbow was _twisted_... Pearl couldn't help but pity the gem- she could tell it was in grave pain from the moment of formation. Yet, the Rose Quartz stood tall as if everything was in order. She must have been brave, Pearl realized, to accept her fate with ease before they locked her in the bubble.

The Rose Quartz stared down at the shattered Diamond gem on the floor. Pearl realized that she was still clutching the sword for dear life. She dropped it on the floor. It hit with a loud _clang_.

“Blue Diamond?” the Rose Quartz whispered.

Footsteps echoed through the hallway outside. Before Pearl could react, the door bust open, and Holly Blue Agate's obnoxious voice rang through the room:

“ _My Diamond, my illustrious_ -”

She interrupted herself when she saw the shards on the floor.

Holly Blue let out an awful scream. Pearl heard gems running in the hall.

“I did it.”

To Pearl's shock, the Rose Quartz next to her knelt down.

“No,” Pearl whispered. She couldn't do that. She couldn't take the blame. The other Diamonds would shatter _all_ Rose Quartz gems as retaliation. “Don't-”

“I shattered Blue Diamond!” the Rose Quartz exclaimed loudly, her words slurring slightly due to the gem crack. “With _that_ sword!” she pointed at the sword Pearl had dropped on the floor. Holly Blue gasped.

“ _You can't say that!_ ” Pearl whispered in horror, audible enough for only the Rose Quartz to hear. “They are going to shatter you! _All of you!_ ”

The Rose Quartz gem looked at her. Fearless, just as she had looked when she first formed. “Then take one of us and run.”

“But-” Pearl was shaking, and she couldn't tell why. Fear? Panic? What was she supposed to feel, now that her Diamond wasn't around? The small gaps she had gotten to feel emotions in between her Diamond's grief had not been enough to prepare her for this... Unexpected _singularity_.

“A ROSE QUARTZ HAS ESCAPED HER BUBBLE!” Holly Blue Agate yelled.

“ _Go_ ,” the Rose Quartz gem commanded.

Somehow, deep inside her soul, Pearl knew this was the last order she would ever take from another gem.

Pearl's eyes fell on the other Rose Quartz gem whose bubble Blue Diamond had destroyed. She crouched and grabbed the gem. It was cold from the floor. She held it close to her chest with one hand, as if to keep her warm, and picked up the sword again with the other hand, and started running.

The corridor was full of Amethysts and Jaspers. Usually a Pearl would have gone as well as unnoticed through the maze, but a Pearl holding a sword was something else. She heard mumbling as she pushed her way through. “ _Hey_!” one Jasper yelled. “Why do _you_ have _that_ sword?”

“It's just a recreation by a Bismuth,” Pearl was sure she heard an Amethyst reassure the Jasper. Word had spread of her Diamond's request it seemed. _My Diamond_... Pearl shook her head. There wasn't time to process what she had done. She had to focus on keeping the last Rose Quartz safe.

“ _BLUE DIAMOND HAS BEEN SHATTERED!_ ” another Amethyst screamed further away. “ _A ROSE QUARTZ BROKE FREE FROM HER BUBBLE!_ ”

Pearl had managed to slink through. A Pearl carrying a sword may have been a shock to Homeworld, but at least it could be explained in certain situations- carrying a sword for her owner, for instance. A Diamond being shattered was enough to shock the soldiers enough to let her pass. Pearl prayed that none of the gems would put two and two together before she had managed to get away.

The room almost seemed blurry around her as she was trying to reach the exit. _My Diamond was shattered. I shattered her. A Rose Quartz took the blame. Now the whole cut will be shattered because of me._ Pearl panted, feeling as if her form was going to break from the stress, just as she had when her Diamond was experiencing grief. She kept her grip tight on the only Rose Quartz gem she had managed to take with her- not enough to break it, but enough to ensure it wouldn't slip out of her fingers. Pearl tried to focus on her surroundings. There was a ship parked by the exit- belonging to the Bismuth that had delivered she word, she assumed. It was small for a ship- but she had few complaints there. She sank down into the captain's seat- the only seat on the whole ship. This Bismuth must have worked alone on her creation- or been confident and eager enough to take credit for the work of others. Pearl looked down at the Rose Quartz gem in her hand.

Once Homeworld had destroyed the other Rose Quartz gems, this was going to be the only Rose Quartz gem left.

This one, and Pink Diamond's shatterer. If one could even call that gem a Rose Quartz anymore, considering the hideous form it had taken at the trial.

She hid the Rose Quartz gemstone in her gem storage, laid the sword down next to her seat, and used both of her hands to take control of the ship. It had been millennias since she had been in control of one, so long ago that the odd sensation it sent through her body was barely recognizable.

Pearl heard a scream.

She sat still in the captain's seat. There was no doubt about whose scream it had been, yet she wanted to deny it to herself. Perhaps the cracked Rose Quartz soldier was still fighting, and the scream came from one of the soldier gems attempting to capture her. Pearl tried to imagine the Rose Quartz using one of her incorrectly formed arms to deliver a punch. It could happen, she tried to assure herself, but she knew the likelihood of it was low.

_Farewell, cracked Rose Quartz._

Pearl couldn't bring herself to cry. It was as if her emotions had gone flatulent the moment she cut the sword duplicate through her Diamond's form. She couldn't even decide how to feel about her own indifference. Was it relieving? Discontenting? Pearl steered forward. _Turn yourself in. You deserve to be shattered._ She struggled to stay in control of the flight. _What's a Pearl without her owner?_ Pearl felt dizzy. _I have to keep the last Rose Quartz safe_ , she convinced herself. _It was the last order I received, thus it's my duty._

“ _MY SHIP!_ ” the Bismuth's voice roared as Pearl took off.


	2. Come as You Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl goes to the beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the lovely comments on Chapter 1! This one and Chapter 3 was originally the same chapter, but I decided to split it up when I had written about 2/3rds of it, so I'll be releasing Chapter 3 a bit quicker hopefully. :)

She nearly crash-landed on Earth.

Blue Pearl had circulated around space for longer than she needed to, stuck in a loop of _I shattered my Diamond. I shattered my Diamond_. Conflicting thoughts kept slapping her from all directions. Should she just turn herself in? No, she couldn't, she had to protect the last Rose Quartz. She argued with her own mind for what felt like hours until she finally steered the ship towards the Earth. What other choice did she have? The Diamonds had colonized most of the planets in the galaxy. Besides, the other Diamond shatterer was on Earth. The thought of even attempting to ally herself with Rose Quartz's syndicate repulsed her in more ways than one, but if Homeworld started looking for her, perhaps she could plead with the Rose Quartz...

If she couldn't save herself, then at least she could save the last Rose Quartz gem. Surely even the shatterer would care to protect her own kind. Or so she hoped. Rumor had it Rose Quartz cared about humans more than gems, but there had still been gems by her side, and they must have had _some_ camaraderie between them.

But what if Rose Quartz was fine with betraying her own kind too? It was not as if she had not done so before...

The doubt, the fear, and the indecision had sent Pearl spiraling. She was losing control of the ship. But she could see herself nearing water. She opened the ship's exit door, and jumped.

The ship crashed into a cliff further away as Pearl pummeled into the water.

Pearl swam back up to the surface. _The sword_ , she realized, panicking. She swam to the beach and started running.

The smell of smoke and ashes was not entirely unfamiliar to her, but it was unpleasant nonetheless. She scavenged through the ship until she found the sword.

It had been broken in two. Pearl sighed and grabbed the part that still had the handle. The part that remained was sharp enough, she assumed, but it would be much more difficult to cut through a gem's form with only half of the sword's length. Homeworld would easily take her down. She moved further away from the ship to avoid the burning scent, and sat down on the beach, shoving the sword down into the sand next to her.

Pearl ran her hand through her hair as if to comb it, until she felt something strange. She paused and took the object out of her hair. A small blue shard. A cold shiver ran down Pearl's spine. Blue Diamond had not disappeared from her completely after all.

She studied the tiny shard in her hand. _Her Diamond_. Pearl had a sudden urge to cry. But she couldn't tell if it came from her or if it was a projection from her Diamond, as if the Diamond was reaching out to her from beyond the material world through the shard. Like her Diamond remained somehow as something intangible, and was still exercising her control over her. Pearl shook her head and tried to assure herself that it was a ridiculous thought. She clenched her fist and raised her arm, throwing the diamond shard as far away from her as she could.

The shard was so small that she couldn't even see when it hit the ocean's surface, but the thought of it swallowing whatever remained of her diamond lowered her worries.

_A shattered gem is gone forever, Diamond or not_ , she reminded herself.

Then again, what defined being gone? Pink Diamond, the unruly gem they were supposed to admire, had been gone for centuries, but her presence lingered. Blue Diamond wouldn't stop talking about her. All her gems were still around. Her collection of humans still existed and had bred multiple times. Up until now even her Rose Quartz gems had remained.

The Rose Quartz gems. Pearl interrupted her philosophic thoughts and reached into her gem storage to pull out the last Rose Quartz gem. It was unscratched, untouched, and appeared to be unharmed overall. She sighed in relief and clutched the gem close to her chest. Most gems would form immediately after released from their bubble, but the cracked Rose Quartz gem had waited a few minutes. The Rose Quartz she had in her hands seemed to be needing even more time.

Pearls were patient, and Blue Pearl was no exception. The last Rose Quartz could take as long as she pleased. She started drawing in the sand with one of her fingers. It started out as an attempt to create the likeliness of the cracked Rose Quartz, but she found herself drawing a taller, thinner figure. She was filled with dread once she realized she had unintentionally drawn her Diamond.

It was lonely without her Diamond by her side. Liberating, but lonely.

She shuddered. It plagued her not to know if Blue Diamond's anger had simply bounced off her and caused the impulsive shattering, or if it had been of her own volition- the breaking point after thousands of years of having grief forced upon her.

_How am I supposed to feel without my Diamond around?_ Pearl asked herself again and again as she watched the ocean wash away the drawings she made in the sand. Yellow Pearl never had that problem with her Diamond. She behaved and avoided her Diamond's wrath, as most Pearls did. Yellow Pearl had never needed to deal with sharing her Diamond's emotions- or rather, having to endure feeling them. Pearl felt herself trembling again. She remembered how tears would run down her cheeks and how her gem seemed to be tearing itself apart, as if it was about to self-shatter from grief.

She had been told her Diamond was empathetic. No, if anything, _Pearl_ was the one who was empathetic. Her Diamond had been projecting, _controlling_ \- Pearl started shaking more violently. Was this a feeling? A feeling of her own? The inability to tell frightened her. She started rocking back and forth on the beach as she caressed the Rose Quartz gem in her hands, praying the shivers would stop.

The gem begun to glow.

Pearl gasped and took a step back. She watched in amazement as the Rose Quartz formed before her eyes.

Her hair was shorter than that of a typical Rose Quartz, closer in length to Pink Diamond rather than her shatterer, but it was just as curly as the latter's had been. The uniform was in line with a regular Quartz soldier as expected, but her gem was placed on her forehead, a rare position for a gem of her kind.

Pearl knelt down before her.

“Greetings, Rose Quartz,” she said. “I'm your Pearl.”

The Rose Quartz's gaze met hers.

* * *

 Pearl had not built up any particular expectations, but she knew how most gems would have reacted in this situation: shocked, disoriented. Rose Quartz showed no sign of either. If anything, the gem was eerily calm.

“I don't have a Pearl,” Rose Quartz said matter-of-factly.

Pearl stared down into the sand and tried to figure out how to interpret the statement. Was she not worthy enough of being her Pearl? “Where are we?” Rose Quartz questioned.

“On Earth,” Pearl replied. “We were forced to escape after-” She paused, realizing that the truth may not be wise to share with a newly reformed Rose Quartz. Did she even know Pink Diamond had been shattered? The news might devastate her. Pearl was unsure of  _when_  exactly during the rebellion they had been bubbled. “...After another Rose Quartz escaped from her bubble,” Pearl decided to say.

Rose Quartz narrowed her eyes. “Gems can't escape when bubbled,” she stated.

_This isn't a Ruby_ , Pearl reminded herself. She swallowed. “It appears there was some sort of accident,” she said. She looked up at Rose Quartz again to check how she was feeling, but the gem revealed nothing. Instead, she stood completely still with her arms crossed, and one finger placed on her chin.  _Contemplating_ , Pearl realized. The other Rose Quartz – the shatterer – had been renowned for her tactics, it made sense that other Rose Quartz gems had that capability too.

“Then  _if_  your story is to be believed,” Rose Quartz said, placing emphasis on the  _if_. “We are fugitives, because another Rose Quartz escaped from her bubble?”

Pearl realized the story made no sense. “The other Rose Quartz... Attacked a Diamond,” she lied. It was after all what Homeworld believed had happened. As far as everyone except for Pearl herself and the cracked Rose Quartz gem knew, that was the truth.

Rose Quartz paused. Then she raised an eyebrow. “And how fast was she shattered?”

“Unexpectedly fast for a Diamond,” Pearl mumbled. She realized it had been a mistake when Rose Quartz stared at her in bafflement. Although in a way, Pearl found herself thankful the gem was finally showing an emotion other than complete apathy since her formation.

“The  _Diamond_  got shattered?” she asked in disbelief. “What a ludicrous story.” Before Pearl could reply, Rose Quartz pulled the broken sword out of the sand. “This isn't my sword,” she said. “Does this belong to your owner?”

Pearl looked down at her hands. “You're my owner,” she said.

Rose Quartz paused. Then she pointed the broken sword towards Pearl's face. “Tell me where your  _actual_  owner is so we can put an end to this poorly thought-out prank.”

Pearl took a step back. “I promise you, I'm-”

Rose Quartz sighed. “Stop with the nonsense,” she said, keeping her tight grip on the broken sword. “Why are we  _really_  here, Pearl?”

Pearl swallowed. “I'm telling the truth,” she insisted.

“A Diamond got shattered?” Rose Quartz shook her head. “Impossible. They are too powerful. That's what I told the rebellion leader too.”

“And look around you!” Pearl lost control of her tone in her desperation, and gestured around the beach. “The Earth is still here! So who  _really_  won the war?” Pearl immediately regretted her words after they had left her mouth. She recoiled, praying Rose Quartz wouldn't shatter her in rage for speaking up against her. However, Rose Quartz didn't seem fazed by her rudeness at all.

“I don't see any humans,” Rose Quartz protested instead. “How do I know gems haven't taken over this planet?”

“ _Because there aren't any gems here either_ ,” Pearl hissed. “Just you, and  _me_.”

“What are you talking about?” Rose Quartz asked. “There is a gem right there,” she continued, pointing over Pearl's shoulder with the broken sword.

Before Pearl could turn around to see what the Rose Quartz had spotted, something hit her.

A voice cried out in horror, but it wasn't her Rose Quartz.

Pearl fell face-down in the sand.


End file.
